


To the Rescue

by silkmoth



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective!Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-10
Updated: 2011-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-14 15:33:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkmoth/pseuds/silkmoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur comes to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To the Rescue

**To the Rescue**

“Merlin! MERLIN!”

Arthur banged his door shut. Where _was_ the idiot? A missing manservant on the third day his father had left Camelot to visit Lord Eldred of Northumberland was not something Arthur needed right now. Maybe the King wanted to count Eldred’s sons there himself; what his father did want was to give Arthur an opportunity to play ruler for a while.

And of course, the moment Uther had left the castle things had begun to go pear-shaped. Arthur already had to settle six fights between villagers and two of his knights had come home from a hunting trip yesterday badly injured from a fight with a pack of boars. The boars had won.

The third son of the Lord of Wessex had arrived on the day Uther had left, wanting to become one of Arthur’s knights. Harold was an even bigger asshole and bungler than his older brother, Grimond, who had already failed at that. In a few days Arthur would beat Harold into the ground at the final test in _ten seconds_.

Arthur kicked the table. The only thing that hadn’t happened –yet- was some kind of sorcery. Knowing his luck, he was certain that at the latest tomorrow morning someone _would_ perform magic. That someone would be a ten years old girl with blond curls; she probably would cast a spell to mend her doll. And she would do this in front of Sir Grimwall, the oldest and most favorite of Uther’s knights, Arthur was certain of that. Old Blabbermouth.

The prince opened a window and looked out. Merlin was nowhere in sight. “MERLIN!”  
Nothing. He only managed to make a few knights and servants jump around the field of battle; Merlin wasn’t there.

Fine. He didn’t need breakfast and he could dress himself, no matter what Morgana said. It was more fun when Merlin did it, but Arthur was completely able to put on clothes himself. Then he would search for his wayward manservant. While opening one of his armoires, Arthur was very certain that things should be the other way around.

***

Dressed completely in black – so what if he looked like he had stolen the clothes from his father, people receded quite nicely from him today- Arthur walked out to the inner courtyard. There had been no trace of either Merlin or Gaius in their rooms, so he decided he would take a look at the market. Maybe Merlin had discovered a new stand with sweets.

Arthur hadn't even reached the market when in the distance he saw a girl running real fast. His instincts took notice immediately when he recognized the girl as Gwen, and she looked panicked. Gwen wasn’t prone to hysterics so something bad had to have happened.

The moment she saw Arthur, she diverted her course and made a beeline for him. When she met up with him, she wasn’t able to catch her breath and whatever she said sounded like babbling to Arthur. But he did understand that she repeated one word. Merlin. _Great, what had the idiot done now?_

“Gwen, calm down, alright? I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

“I’m sorry, sire, but… I… I…” Gwen gulped down breaths, “I saw Merlin and Sir Harold… and two of his friends… behind the stables… they were beating Merlin….”

Arthur was already running. "Get Morgana and send the guards," he yelled over his shoulder at Gwen. He knew there was no time for him to summon the guards himself if he wanted Merlin alive. He had seen Harold’s friends.

***

Arriving at the stables, Arthur looked around frantically. There was no one is sight, and Gwen hadn’t said where exactly she had seen Merlin. Arthur turned to the left and started for his own stable when he heard muffled noises coming from the right. Turning around again, he rushed to the barn where the guest’s horses were looked after.

There Arthur found them.

Merlin was barely more than a vaguely human shaped lump on the floor. He had curled himself into a tight ball, obviously trying to protect his head and groin from the vicious kicks raining down on him. He didn’t even try to defend himself.

Now Arthur knew he should stop this with a few sharp words and ask what Merlin had done to deserve this. But his royally trained brain got overrun by primal instincts. No one was allowed to hurt Merlin. _NO ONE_.

With a snarl, he grabbed the oversized bully next to him and threw him against the barn wall. The one beside him, Sir Harold, turned around in surprise and – _oh yes!_ \- took a swing at the prince. Arthur didn’t even flinch at the blow. He already had a grip on Harold’s ridiculous looking pale blue tunic with his left hand and started to smash his right fist into the bastard’s face repeatedly.

Harold went down disgustingly soon, his hands rose to stave off the blows. Arthur was certain that Merlin hadn’t surrendered so early, even fighting the three assholes at once. The second friend of Harold, Sir Whatshisname, obviously failed to recognize Arthur and started in on the prince, head first. Arthur took one step to the side and watched the halfwit stumbling down in the hay, almost knocking himself out on a post.

That was the moment the guards arrived, with Morgana and Gwen in tow.

***

Morgana had been fast, Arthur had to give her that. He was a little disappointed that he had to stop brawling so soon. “Get them down to the dungeons!” he hissed at the guards. He crouched down beside Merlin and laid a hand carefully on the injured man’s shoulder. Merlin flinched.  
"You can't throw me into the dungeons over this," Sir Harold protested. Arthur didn't even acknowledge the man with a glance, let alone a word. He could do whatever he liked, and right now he wasn’t sure yet if this involved a flogging or something a little more violent. Arthur’s full concentration was on Merlin.  
“Shhh, Merlin, it’s me, Arthur.”

The prince tried to get a look at Merlin’s face but the second he was able to take a glance Merlin cramped down harder again. That one look had been enough though. Arthur turned around to the women hovering behind him and said “Get Gaius for him, quickly.”

One of the two guards who tried to get asshole number three on his feet glanced at Arthur and said hesitantly “Sire, Gaius had left the castle this morning to help a woman giving birth in one of the outer villages.”

 _Great_. Well, Arthur was a warrior long enough to tend to some wounds himself. He already knew by the way Merlin moved that there was no serious damage to Merlin’s spine. He slowly slipped his arms under Merlin’s body and finally lifted him while continuing to talk to his servant quietly.

Merlin just hid his face on Arthur’s chest and didn’t say a word. Arthur marched out of the barn, across the whole courtyard and straight up to his room with Merlin on his arms, Morgana and Gwen on his heels.

***

One could only hope, Arthur thought darkly, that Merlin was too out of it to take notice of what was happening around him. Morgana and he were fighting over a piece of wet linen, while Gwen stood nearby, wringing her hands in her skirt and looking like she wanted to beat both of them with a stick. If Merlin knew, the prince wouldn’t hear the end of it.

Arthur had already examined his manservant superficially to make sure Merlin had no broken bones and had been happy to find that he was only bruised. But Merlin was badly bruised, all over, and there were many lacerations and small cuts in his face. Arthur was sure he would find a lot more bruises on Merlin’s body if the prince would be able to get the women out of his room and Merlin out of his clothes. The salve Gaius gave him for treating his training bruises was already on the night table as well as a bowl with water and a few bandages. Now he had to get rid off Morgana and her maid, and that proved difficult as _ever_.

Arthur took the cloth out of Morgana’s hand for the second time. “I will see about that, Morgana. Now if you would be so gracious and take your leave, please? I have to take his clothes off to examine him more properly and I don’t think either of you wants to see that,” he said, very aware of the fact that both women wouldn’t exactly mind.

“As if you have any idea at all what to do! You will probably only hurt Merlin more than he already is,” Morgana said, trying to take back the cloth again.

“I won’t hurt him! And what do you want to do, huh? The only thing women are good for in such a case is holding hands or pressing a wet linen to the forehead. I have to make sure he isn’t bleeding somewhere else beside his face.”

Morgana was already opening her mouth again when Gwen laid a hand on her arm. “My lady, maybe we should let the Prince look after Merlin?” she said, staring at Morgana intently.

Gwen did this quite often and as always Arthur had no idea at all what that look meant. But it _worked_. Morgana turned slightly and seemed to consider whatever, and then she glanced at Arthur speculatively for a moment.

“Very well,” she said, smiling like a cat. “But if Merlin wants someone to hold his hand after all, the Gods may have mercy on him.” And with that she rushed out of the room.

Gwen looked at Arthur with a compassionate smile. “Take good care of him, sire,” she said and followed Morgana hastily.

Sighing, Arthur went to work.

***

About an hour later, Arthur was freaked out.

He had stripped Merlin down, bandaged every wound he found on his servant’s body and had put salve on everything that looked even slightly like a bruise. Then Arthur had somehow wrestled Merlin into one of his nightshirts taking note that it was very good he never wore them because Merlin looked _ridiculous_.

He also looked very fragile. While Arthur had been examining him, he had had to pause quite a few times and close his eyes. He had had to stop just to keep his hands gentle. That bastard Harold would pay for every bruise on Merlin’s skin, Arthur would make sure of that.

But now, Arthur had finished up with everything he could think of doing and he just sat there, pressing the cloth of linen against Merlin’s forehead and cursing himself inwardly for doing it. Merlin seemed to be awake but still hadn’t said anything at all. Arthur was beginning to fear some kind of head injury. It just wasn’t like Merlin to be quiet for so long.

“Merlin, are you in there?”

Silence.

“Merlin, would you please say something? Otherwise I have to send the guards for Gaius because I have no idea what’s wrong with you.”

That finally got him a reaction. Merlin opened his eyes, well, he opened one eye, the other was too swollen for that, and said “Don’t.”

“He is alive. Who would have thought that. How do you feel?”

Merlin sighed and closed his eye again.

“Oh no, you don’t. Don’t you dare play dead man here! I want you to tell me how you feel, and I want to know what you have done to make Sir Harold beat you up. What happened down there?”

Merlin stiffened and glanced at Arthur again. With a hoarse voice he asked, “what I have done?”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that! Just answer the questions!”

“Fine. I feel awful, everything hurts, especially my head and my back. Harold and his friends are dickheads. That’s all.”

Of course Merlin was right. Harold _was_ a dickhead. Arthur just couldn’t agree on that out loud with Merlin because Harold, dickhead or not, was another noble man.

“Yes, he is a dickhead, alright.” Obviously he _could_ agree with Merlin on that. “That’s why you should have kept away from him. Why didn’t you? You were supposed to serve me breakfast, not run around alone at the stables.”

Merlin blushed.

“Yes, I know that, _Your Highness_. But at the time you were still turning your royal arse around in bed, I was already mucking out your horses. After I had finished with that, the bastards caught me.”

Merlin really shouldn’t get away with this kind of language but right now Arthur couldn’t care less. His hands already balled to fists he asked, “what do you mean, ‘ _caught you’_?”

Merlin blushed harder and just looked at him, saying nothing.

These… Arthur couldn’t think of an insult bad enough. How dare they. How dare they molest anyone here in Camelot, let alone someone who was _his_! He would kill them. No, he would castrate them first and kill them afterwards.

Apparently Merlin became alarmed by the look on Arthur's face because he quickly said “They didn’t do anything first. They asked if I would… you know. And then they… they hinted that they were sure that I… that I should be used to this. Being _your_ manservant and all…”

Arthur stood up abruptly. He walked to the door, stopped, turned around, went back to his bed and sat down again beside Merlin. He was furious. He wanted to lash out in a thousand directions at once and couldn’t. At least not right now; he had to get the whole story first.

“What happened then? What did you say to them?”

“Er… that was when things became awkward. I didn’t… really say anything, you know? I just… I laughed. Quite loudly to be honest.” Merlin ducked his head and smiled at Arthur like a sheep. “The thought alone… you and me… you know.”

Arthur didn’t find that amusing. Not at all.

“So you laughed. And then? What did they do?”

“Well, they got angry real fast. They grabbed me and I tried to get away but I had no chance.” Merlin stopped and looked at his feet sticking out under the blanket. “I mean, I didn’t try everything, I guess I could have done something but…”

“Oh, stop it! You had no chance at all,” Arthur bristled with anger. “And then? They dragged you into the barn and then? Did they…. you know?” Gods, this was difficult.

“Ah… no. I guess they lost interest when I started laughing. They just got me into the barn and beat me up. When you came, I was almost unconscious. I tried to stay awake because I wasn’t sure what they would do when I… you know? And I had seen Gwen watching them and then running away so I hoped she would send someone soon.” Merlin fell silent and Arthur saw him feeling around for the cloth. His manservant was very pale now and obviously in a lot of pain.

Arthur took the cloth, wet it again and held it against Merlin’s forehead. Merlin sighed quietly and relaxed a little into the mattress, still looking awful.

“Merlin, how do you feel? Are you sick to the stomach or do you feel dizzy?”

The young man on the bed opened his eye again and looked at Arthur with a miserable expression.

“No, I don’t feel sick. But my head hurts in a way it never has before. Gods,” Merlin swallowed, “I have no idea what to do about it.” His left hand waggled around a bit.

“Not much to do about that, I’m afraid,” Arthur said, looking at Merlin’s hand.

Bloody hell. Arthur should had have known he would end up holding hands with Merlin. _And_ pressing a cloth to his forehead with the other hand. He hated Morgana.

***

The moment Merlin fell asleep – well, not the _moment_ , maybe one or two hours after it – Arthur asked Gwen to keep an eye on his manservant and marched to the courtroom to meet with the stewart. And as if by a miracle, nothing else had happened in Camelot. The only thing the stewart looked worried about was that Arthur had thrown three noble men in the dungeons. He looked even more worried when Arthur told him that these _three noble men_ should be very glad to still be alive.

“Sire, with all respect… the Lord of Wessex is an ally, a very powerful ally. I don’t think… that he will be in agreement with this treatment.”

As if Arthur cared. He was still full of fury, but now he knew that Merlin wouldn’t be dying –Gods!- and so the hot rage that had filled him was now replaced by a cold feeling of hatred. However, he had watched his father too many times judge poor souls and condemn them in blind anger and hate, and Arthur wouldn’t make the same mistake. He would wait until he calmed down a little bit more. Until that happened, the dungeons were exactly the right place for these three despicable men. The stewart would just have to live with it.

After Arthur explained this to the stewart with simple words he left for the training field, leaving the old man behind. Right now the prince was in the mood to _really_ train his knights.

***

Six hours later Arthur felt better about things, much better. He leapt up the stairs to his room, servants, noble men and the knights who could still move sprinted out of his way. When he arrived at his chamber he was glad to see that Gwen was still there and Morgana nowhere in sight.

“How is he, Gwen?”

“Merlin was asleep the whole time, sire. I think he looks a little bit better by now.”

Arthur glanced at the sleeping man in his bed. Yes, Merlin looked better. The swelling in his face had gone way down; Arthur wished Gaius’ salve would work for him so well… and so quick.

“Thank you, Gwen, for staying here so long.”

“Oh, sire, I don’t mind. I can stay longer if you wish to…”

“No. No, I will make sure Merlin doesn’t fall out of the bed now. I don’t want to keep you away from Morgana even longer than I already have.”

That got him a sharp look from Gwen, a look Arthur couldn’t –as always- understand at all. But whatever it meant, Gwen relented.

She said hesitantly, “of course, sire, I leave Merlin to you,” and left with a little curtsey. Gwen was a sensible woman, maybe the only one Arthur knew. But, on the other hand, everyone would seem to be sensible compared to Morgana.

Arthur strolled over to Merlin, leant on a bedpost and watched his manservant for a while. Merlin was deeply asleep, making little snorkling sounds. Arthur refused to find him cute.

So, what should he do now? The prince found himself still in a somehow restless state.

FOOD!

Yes, he could eat now.

***

After some very satisfying yelling in the halls for dinner and an even more satisfying fast –and after one sharp glance- quiet serving, Arthur sat at the table overflowing with food and dug in. He had learned from one of the guards in the hall that Gaius still hadn’t returned yet and probably wouldn’t because it had become dark outside. That meant he would have a roommate tonight. Arthur didn’t mind at all. Of course, it wasn’t exactly right for Merlin to spend the night in the prince’s chamber –or so the stewart would say- but what should Arthur do? After all, he could hardly throw Merlin out, in his current state.

Finally Arthur was full and he only continued to pop grapes into his mouth. The food on the table still looked untouched, no matter how much Arthur had eaten. With a grin the prince noticed a certain rumbling sound coming from the bed and soon after that Merlin began to move.

“Are you awake yet? I guess you smelled the food?”

After some more moving and groaning, a very bedraggled Merlin with unbelievable bedhair on his head squinted out of the tangled mess of blankets and pillows at Arthur.

“Huh?” Merlin said puzzled.

“Food? Are you hungry?”

“Yes. I could definitely eat something,” Merlin replied and started to stand up. With a moan he fell back on the bed immediately.

“You idiot! Stay where you are, I’ll bring you something.”

That would be just what Arthur needed if Merlin would fall out of the bed and injure himself further while the prince was right beside him. Morgana and Gwen would kill Arthur on the spot.

“Oh, by the way, how do your teeth feel? Did you lose one in the fight?” Arthur asked while arranging lots of food on one of the plates.

“Ah… no, I didn’t. I guess I should be grateful for this.”

“Yes, you should,” Arthur answered. The prince smiled to himself. He was very sure Harold hadn’t been so lucky.

***

After Merlin had eaten, Arthur had undressed and they both had used the chamber pot (which Arthur had kicked out in the hall afterwards) and washed up, the two men were now lying in Arthur’s bed, not talking.

Arthur felt awkward again. He resented it when Merlin didn’t talk. While the prince would never admit that he was used to Merlin’s constant chattering it creeped him out when Merlin was quiet. Usually Arthur then yelled at him, but right now he didn’t think it would be right to shout at his injured manservant lying right beside him.

Neither of them seemed to be sleepy at all, Arthur was still buzzing from the training and Merlin had slept all day. So, if Arthur wanted to have a conversation, he would have to start one. Gods, he hated that.

But, Merlin’s silence got Arthur thinking. “Merlin?”

“Hm?”

That should be “Yes, Sire?” but who cared about those little things? Arthur certainly didn’t anymore as long as his father wasn’t around to throw Merlin in the stocks over it.

“When I bandaged you today, why didn’t you talk to me? I know you were awake.”

Silence.

“Merlin, I really don’t want to yell at you right now. Just give me a straight answer, would you?” Arthur said, turning his head to the left and looking at the other man.

Merlin was staring at the canopy, looking nervous.

“Um… I didn’t exactly know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain… what happened.”

“What do you mean?”

Merlin sighed. “I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

“To what?”

Merlin turned around to face him. “Gods, do you have to be so difficult?” he said.

Now _that_ was typical Merlin. _Arthur_ was difficult, not Merlin, who was behaving extremely weird; no Arthur was the difficult one.

“Are you nuts? _You_ are the one who obviously lost his marbles somewhere today, Merlin! I just want to know where to look for them.”

More silence.

“Merlin, did you tell me the truth about what happened at the stables today?”

After another pause, during which Arthur’s hair was beginning to stand up on end, Merlin finally said, “I… yes, I did.”

“Now that sounds convincing!”

“No, I… I really did. They didn’t do anything else,” Merlin huffed quietly, “believe me, _what_ they did was enough for me.”

Something didn’t feel right here.

“And why were you concerned about my reaction then?”

The little twit rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t sure how you would react about what they said. You know… you and me, being kind of… together that way?”

 _Oh_.

“As far as I remember I didn’t react at all. You were the one laughing your ass off about it.”

Now, that didn’t come out the way Arthur wanted. He wanted to sound condescending and somehow managed to sound hurt. Dammit. And damn Merlin who obviously caught that, considering the way his eyes got big at once. Gods, that was the perfect time for the idiot to become observant.

“Merlin, look I…” Arthur was cut off on whatever he wanted to say because he was getting jumped by his very enthusiastic manservant who kissed him straight on the mouth.

The twit. How dare he? That wasn’t at all what Arthur wanted… well, alright… it was… nice. Alright.

After a while, Merlin drew back and looked at him a bit worried.

Arthur looked back, breathing heavily. This was bloody amazing.

Merlin opened and shut his mouth twice before he finally said “You won’t put me in the stocks over this, will you?”

***

The Crown Prince looked serenely at the stocks. There was quite a crowd there, throwing fruits and vegetables. There weren’t only kids and villagers, no, there were quite a lot of servants and maids, even some of the Royal Household. He saw Gwen throwing quite a few hard looking potatoes.

Arthur smiled. To flog or to behead assholes was boring. To put them in the stocks for a whole day, from dawn to dusk, was fun. And obviously very humiliating if Arthur read Harold’s face right. One hour before dawn this morning, the prince had some heart to heart with the bastards which had put the fear of the Gods in them. Tonight, the three noble men would leave Camelot accompanied by some of her guards to never come back again.

And what was even funnier, Uther would probably be angry at his son for being too lenient. After all, they had attacked the Crown Prince.

Some time later, Arthur turned away from the spectacle, hiding a grin. He had a kingdom to rule and a servant lying in his bed to care for. His father could stay away as long as he wanted, Arthur didn’t mind. There was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Life was good.

  
The End.


End file.
